Disconnected MAF, recipe for disaster?

[NacIK]

Well, for the last year my 'hoe has been driving weird. It felt like it was dragging. I changed all of my fluids and felt a little change, but not much. Plus, I was getting horrible gas mileage, around 12. I disconnected my MAF last week when I cleaned my air filter and forgot to reconnect it. I was amazed by the difference. I now have so much power and my mileage is back up to 16 mpg. It is running smoothly and like new again! The only problem is the transmission shifts hard, especially when shifting into drive. I remember reading somewhere that the MAF controls the transmission line pressure and this could be why my transmission was acting up for the last year.

Since I have came to the conclusion that I destroyed my MAF last year when I over oiled my K&N I will have to save money and replace it. Until then is there any problems with not having the MAF connected? As long as I don't blow up my transmission I might just keep it that way until I get my 411 swapped and programmed. I now remember why so many love the L31 over the early LS series. The thing is loaded with torque!

 

[Horns]

A lot of people leave it unplugged. I however would replace it, and then stop getting oiled filters. Get dry filters only. Oil filters ruin lots of things.

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[Kamd90Chevy]

did this to my dad's 98, i bought the K&N that was oiled. i really didn't know how much to put at that point in time. he was rather pissed when he had to replace that sensor, i felt really bad cuz it was an extra $138 we didn't have over something silly. IMHO stick to the dry filters. too many things it can mess up on the newer motors and all their sensors.

 

[Aloicious]

oiled filters suck at filtering anyways.

leaving the MAF unplugged just means you'll run in speed density mode (in other words, the airflow calculations will be made solely off the MAP readings. instead of using both) if I were you I'd get the MAF replaced, but it shouldn't kill you to run without it for a littel bit. do you have a scanner that can read live data? if so take a look at your STFT and LTFT and make sure you're not WAY out of whack just to be safe...

I don't think the MAF has anything to do with transmission control. but I'm not an auto kinda guy.

 

[NacIK]

I have a DashDyno SPD, but I don't know what to look for on the fuel trims. I use the thing mostly to track how much gas I use, but the stupid thing only tracks off of the MAF sensor, which is useless now. It was always also off around 2 gallons, so that should have told me something. It was probably not that accurate also because there is a lot of hills around here and it did not compensate for the fuel being turned off when coasting down hill.

The MAF defiantly has something to do with the transmission line pressure. It is like there is no power to the transmission, but 1st, 4th, and the TCC still work. I love the way it feels, I am just afraid the excessive jerking when putting it in drive will kill my weak trans.

 

[Blue 04 Z71]

I think I have an extra maf I pulled at the JY 3 weeks ago

 

[NacIK]

I think I have an extra maf I pulled at the JY 3 weeks ago

I might by it from you later on when I get some funds for it. Is it OEM?

 

[Aloicious]

The MAF defiantly has something to do with the transmission line pressure. It is like there is no power to the transmission, but 1st, 4th, and the TCC still work. I love the way it feels, I am just afraid the excessive jerking when putting it in drive will kill my weak trans.

it may be like your trans is defaulting into a 'limp' mode or something similar without the MAF (the PCM thinking that it's failed so it's going into a safe mode) or something like that. I'm not totally sure though, that would just be a thought...are you getting any trans codes, like slipping or anything?

 

[smrr1]

i'm assuming you have tried cleaning yours............if not do that first. my truck had a k&n cai with an oiled filter. truck has super low miles and ran a little rough not to mention 12-13 mpg. i replaced the pcv and picked up a can of maf sensor cleaner. i also put the factory intake back on with an oem style filter. truck runs super smooth and mileage is up to 16. it is super easy. it is an aerosol can and you just remove the maf sensor spray it well and let dry. it's worth a shot.

 

[NacIK]

The trans is definitely not slipping. The thing acts like a manual transmission. You can feel the power going directly to the tires. It feels so weird, but I love the feeling! As far as codes I only have one for the O2 sensor, but that is just because I have a broken weld at one of my header collectors.

As far as cleaning the thing I already tried that. If anything it made it worse. All of the little sensors are coated thickly in some black crap that won't come off. I will just buy one instead and save the trouble. If my mileage keeps up at 16mpg or goes back to 18 it will be worth every penny.